Page 72 of Once Bitten

She just chuckled a little.

“No, maybe I should start at the beginning.”

I braced myself.

“My parents are Devin and Cathleen Healy.” I frowned, those names sounded so familiar. Oh.

“Your parents are…”

“Yup, they owned the hotel in Dublin that Finn bought. I’ve known him for years, ever since we were kids and the whole family would come over during vacations with their Pa.”

I bit back a burst of jealousy.

“When my Dad got sick and Finn took over, I was still in college, but I dropped out, went a little wild. I guess Finn understood what it was like to have such a big change in your life so he took me under his wing.”

Heather looked at me and I nodded, knowing now what a caring man Finn was.

“Anyway, a few years ago, I decided that Dublin wasn’t the place for me, and I wanted to move to the USA. I came over, but because I hadn’t finished my degree and never really worked…my parents really spoiled me, I couldn’t get a job, well, I couldn’t keep one anyway. It got to the point that I was going to be deported, and there was really only one option left.”

“A green card,” it dawned on me.

“Yes. I would never have asked, but Finn arranged everything, almost as a surprise. He had an apartment set up so we could have a joint address, but mostly we were to live separate lives. He was a friend, of course, but there has never been anything romantic between us. I understand now why that might be.” She winked at me.

The two women looked at me, trying to gauge my reaction. I didn’t know what it was going to be myself.

“Anyway, so we might be legally married, but it was only ever going to be something temporary, and there is no commitment between the two of us, Kara. He was and is free to be with whomever he chooses. Hell, if I can date, I don’t see why he can’t!”

“Then why does he…”

“Why does he still feel as though there is some sort of promise he needs to keep to me? I don’t know, because he’s a good guy, I guess. Or maybe casual flings are ok, but I think he wanted to be completely free before making any promises to you. Either way I’m letting him out of it. It’s not worth this, Kara. I care about Finn too much to let this affect his life, I only agreed in the first place because he swore that it wouldn’t. I don’t think he was prepared for you coming back to his life. Anyway, as far as I am concerned, as you can see from my signature, our marriage is over.”

“But Madeleine, what about your visa?”

“I’ll figure it out, hey, maybe your Stepdad can get me a job?” She turned to Heather.

“Sure, which company do you want?” Heather joked back, trying to lighten the mood.

I dropped my eyes to the words on the paper in my hand again, not really reading, but trying to process what I’d heard. He wasn’t really married. I mean, married, but not. Not in the way that mattered.

Should it matter to me, that he didn’t tell me? How would I have reacted?

You would’ve pushed him away, my mind told me. And you’d never have known what it was like, to be with Finn O’Reilly.

“Heather?” I conjured up every ounce of trust I had in my body.

“Yes, Kara?”

“Is this true?”

“Sweetie, you know you can trust me right?”

“With my life.”

“Then believe me when I tell you, every single little word is true.”